quote:
Agree and disagree. Nadal is an extremely tough matchup for Fed, but he's always struggled mentally against Nadal. Some of their classic matches Fed would 2-12 on break point chances whereas Rafa would be 4-5 and that would be the match. I've always though Fed was simply so dominant over the likes of Hewitt/Roddick that his mental weaknesses were never exposed until someone like Rafa came along.

Check out this quote from an article in Grantland by Brian Phillips (a guy who I think is a good writer):

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And this is basically the story of this rivalry, right? That is, one of the fundamental things that everyone seems to sense about these players is that Nadal has limitless tenacity, never gives up, gets stronger as the match progresses, and loves the fight for its own sake, while Federer, for all his sublime talent, can turn confoundingly soft on the rare occasions when the momentum turns against him. Just every now and again, there's a Strange Federer Softness. Sometimes you get the sense that he feels he's proved his point in the early games and expects the rest of the match to fall into line out of courtesy. And if it doesn't, if things don't work out as a logical extension of those first few games, he's taken aback. It's not that he lacks the mental strength to compete, more that he loses his decision-making ability because he's genuinely perplexed. He's like a ship in becalmed waters. Anyway, this third set will be vital for him.

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Posted by DP40

Swamps and creeks

Member since Nov 2008

9907 posts

Posted on 6/5/12 at 8:06 pm to bobbyray21

quote:
Just every now and again, there's a Strange Federer Softness. Sometimes you get the sense that he feels he's proved his point in the early games and expects the rest of the match to fall into line out of courtesy. And if it doesn't, if things don't work out as a logical extension of those first few games, he's taken aback. It's not that he lacks the mental strength to compete, more that he loses his decision-making ability because he's genuinely perplexed.

While I agree with that, I'll add Fed NEVER had to play aggressive tennis on "big points" because time and time again his opponents played poorly enough that Fed came through repeatedly. Nadal was not that guy, Federer NEVER adjusted to Nadal's style until maybe 2011.

In two of their epic Finals Federer had more break opportunities, but rarely cashed in and that was the difference in the match. Big points, Fed was thinking he could just rely on errors or poor shot selection from Nadal like he did every other player. Not gonna happen.

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